Bevin has launched war on public education

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In case you have missed it, Gov. Matt Bevin and the Republican majority in Frankfort declared war on public education. Bevin previously proposed wide-open charter-school legislation, which would devastate public education. Luckily, that legislation was tempered, thanks to opposition from public education groups.

Initial pension-reform proposals created by Bevin and Republican leadership would have created mass defections and very little influx of talented teachers into public schools. The Senate just passed legislation ending non-traditional instruction days. In his budget, Bevin put forth more proposed cuts to education. He suggested crippling cuts to school transportation budgets, additional costs for districts that the state normally provides and surrendering a large portion of each school district’s rainy-day or contingency fund.

Bevin implied schools were hoarding money in this rainy-day fund, but he failed to mention that the state requires districts to keep a certain percentage of their budget in reserve for unforeseen emergencies.

Bevin and the majority party can assure the voters they are working for students in public education, but there is no truth in those statements. Voters and anyone connected to public education need to remember this in the upcoming legislative elections.

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